Minnesota outside hitter Karlie Hauer spiked the volleyball against Radford during the third set in the Sports Pavillion at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis on Friday, December 6, 2013. (Pioneer Press: Simon Guerra)

Minnesota entered the NCAA women’s volleyball tournament fresh off four straight wins over Big Ten teams ranked in the top 25.

So a match against unranked Radford wasn’t expected to be a huge challenge for such a battle-tested team. And it wasn’t.

No. 10 Minnesota (28-6) blew past Radford 25-11, 25-19, 25-8 Friday night at the Sports Pavilion. The Gophers (28-6) advance to the Round of 32 and will face Colorado (18-13), which took down Iowa State 3-1, at 7 p.m. Saturday.

“We have potentially five more matches, so the more that we can work together to shake off any jitters … is nice at the start of the tournament,” senior outside hitter Ashley Wittman said.

Minnesota boasted a balanced offensive attack, led by middle blocker Tori Dixon, who finished with 12 kills, and Wittman, who had seven. The Gophers totaled 42 kills and hit an imposing .362.

The Gophers were just as impressive on defense, with 10 blocks while holding Radford to an .053 hitting percentage.

“We certainly got a lot of good touches, and we were in good spots,” Gophers coach Hugh McCutcheon said. “I’d like more, but that’s probably the role of a coach — perpetually dissatisfied.”

This is the fifth time in six years the Gophers hosted the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament. While the team has seen bigger crowds this season, players said the 1,959 fans in attendance made a big difference.

“It’s nice to have that type of support behind us,” Wittman said.

Minnesota dominated the first set on the heavy arms of Wittman and Dixon. Wittman had five thunderous kills — a few hammering off the heads of Radford players — and Dixon added three kills and two service aces. The Gophers had 18 kills and hit .500 in the first set.

“We just go out there and try to play clean and … in the first set we did a really good job,” Dixon said.

Radford (25-10) made a short-lived run in the second set. The Highlanders brought the score to 11-11 at one point before Minnesota responded.

McCutcheon said he thought his team was frustrated in the second set.

“We tried to do some great things … and we probably didn’t need to stretch ourselves (that much),” he said. “I thought our athletes regained their composure … and we felt like we had a little more control of what we were doing.”

The Gophers left no doubt in the final set, jumping to a 16-2 lead due in large part to a seven-point scoring run with Daly Santana serving. Santana finished with five aces.

McCutcheon said Colorado will be a good test.

“(We) have to play with a lot of discipline and certainly come out with … a lot of determination,” he said. “It’s going to be a good match. They’re a good team.”

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